Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI / CDLQI)

The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Children’s DLQI (CDLQI) are short, validated questionnaires designed to capture how skin disease affects a person’s life. They cover multiple domains, including symptoms and feelings, daily activities, leisure, work/school, personal relationships and treatment. Each question is scored 0–3, giving a maximum score of 30; higher scores indicate greater impairment. In routine psoriasis care, DLQI can highlight problems that may not be obvious from visual examination alone, such as embarrassment, sleep disturbance or impact on sex life.

Current guidelines encourage clinicians to combine an objective severity measure (such as PASI or BSA) with a quality‑of‑life tool like DLQI when making treatment decisions. This reflects the fact that relatively small areas of visible psoriasis (for example, on the face, scalp, hands or genitals) can have a disproportionately large impact on wellbeing and functioning. DLQI can also support shared decision‑making, helping patients and clinicians to agree realistic treatment goals and monitor whether therapies are delivering meaningful benefits beyond skin clearance.

In paediatric practice, the CDLQI uses age‑appropriate wording to assess similar domains in children and adolescents. It can be completed by the child, sometimes with parental help, and is useful for understanding school participation, bullying, play and family impact. Like DLQI, higher scores suggest greater need for intervention and support.

Key references

1. Finlay AY, Khan GK. Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) – a simple practical measure for routine clinical use. Dermatology. 1994;189(3):193–198.

2. Lewis‑Jones MS, Finlay AY. The Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI): initial validation and practical use. Br J Dermatol. 1995;132(6):942–949.

3. Nast A et al. European S3‑Guidelines on the systemic treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2015;29(11):2277–2294. (Quality‑of‑life measures used as outcomes.)

Reviewed: August 2026

Version ID: 2/DLQ/AAR/08/26